Two Quarters and a Heart Down
by Havah Kinny
Summary: Connect 3 & Mitchie return as counselors. Mitchie & Shane are together but Shane doesn't feel right. Rather than break her heart he decides to stay with her until he meets Maxxie Oliver, a young dance counselor who changes the way Shane sees things. slash
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N Ok, so this is a new story...I'm writing and posting it probably a little slower than my other stuff was, but we'll see how it turns out!**_

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Another summer at Camp Rock – another summer teaching wanna be rock stars and faux divas like Tess Tyler how to strut their stuff in a manner effective enough to get noticed. If you couldn't sell music, sell sex. Shane knew that well enough, after all, it had worked for Connect Three. Sure, their music was alright, but that's not why girl's screamed whenever the three boys walked into a room and they all knew it. This summer would be different than last, of course. This summer Shane's girlfriend, Mitchie, would be a counselor alongside him and not a camper. He knew that he was supposed to be excited but there was just something about the camp that didn't feel like home anymore.

"Isn't this going to be so fun?" She gushed, squeezing his hand as the limousine approached the camp.

"Of course!" Shane plastered on a smile for her. He cared for Mitchie and he wanted her to be happy, so he would pretend – pretend for her, for Jason and for Nate. Then again, Nate and Jason seemed too wrapped up in their newfound relationship to notice much one way or the other.

"God…what if the campers don't listen to me? I mean a lot of them will be the same kids that were there last year and what if they don't respect me because of, well, you know…everything with my mom?" Mitchie bit her lip, looking nervous.

"Then they'll have your big, strong, rock star boyfriend to answer too," Shane smiled, leaning in to kiss her. He didn't let on as he pulled away that he didn't feel the same spark in the kiss that he had a year ago when they had first met. Something had changed in their relationship in the last few months and Shane wasn't sure what it was, so he let it go, acting as though he felt no difference, acting as though the passion was still new and exciting the way that it seemed to be for Mitchie. After all, the girl hadn't done anything wrong, so why should he break her heart?

"Yeah…that should do the trick!" She smiled, resting her head on Shane's shoulder and letting out a deep sigh. "It's nice to be back, you know, where we first met."

"It is," Nate smiled, leaning in to kiss Jason on the cheek.

"How weird is this?" Jason grinned. "TWO couples in ONE limousine that met at CAMP ROCK?! I mean what are the odds!"

"Shut up," Nate rolled his eyes, though even Shane could detect the slight grin on his face as he slapped his boyfriend upside the head gently.

"Fuck you," Jason rolled his eyes.

"Later," Nate smiled.

"Oh for the love of god," Shane sighed.

"Is there something about this place that just brings out the asshole in you?" Nate asked. "Or am I imagining that."

"You're imagining it!" Mitchie piped up. "This place brings out the romance in him, doesn't it babe?"

"Of course!" Shane said again, nodding vigorously in agreement with his girlfriend. "You know me – mister summer time romance!"

"Well that is how I fell in love with you," Mitche shrugged, sitting up straight and stretching. "Well, I guess it's time to find our cabins!"

Seeing as it was a youth summer camp, Shane and Mitchie couldn't sleep in the same cabin, so the three boys went to one Instructor's Lodge while Mitchie went to another to set up. An instructor's lodge had four beds for four instructors and by the time Nate, Jason and Shane got there, whoever the fourth counselor was had already come and gone. There was a suitcase placed neatly at the foot of the bed and nothing but a book on the dresser.

"He's either really, really neat like Nate," Shane mused. "Or he hasn't had time to make a mess yet."

"I hope it's the first one," Nate bit his lip. "I DO NOT want a messy room mate…I hate messes."

"Could you be any gayer?" Shane asked.

"I could try," Nate shrugged, grinning.

"Don't."

"Fine then." Nate laughed. "I'll stay the way I am, just gay enough to be in love with Jason." He slipped his arm around his boyfriend. "Now be a doll and give us some time to christen in the cabin."

"Fine…" Shane rolled his eyes and grabbed his swim trunks, deciding to begin his summer at camp with a dip in the lake while his band mates began theirs with a quickie. He changed in the showers and headed towards the lake. He was about to jump in when he saw a boy across the lake run and do a flip before landing an expertly performed swan dive into the water. Shane's eyes widened at the skill that the maneuver required and he suddenly felt embarrassed by his inabilities concerning gymnastics. Instead of entering the lake, he decided to sit on his towel and enjoy the sun. As he sunbathed, his eyes caught the boy's bright blond hair as he swam through the water.

_Jesus…_Shane bit his lip. _When did the campers get more talented than me?_ He couldn't avert his eyes as he watched the blond boy glide through the water as though there was nothing difficult about it. The boy made the motions look effortless and even Shane couldn't ignore the prominent muscles that flexed each time he swam past. After almost a half an hour of watching him, Shane saw the boy pull himself from the lake without any struggled and grab a towel, slinging it over his shoulders before he walked away. Only once the boy was gone did Shane decide to finally take his swim. He eased into the water with nowhere near the grace and style of the blond, but it didn't matter – no one was watching him. He did laps for about 45 minutes before he grew tired.

Once he got out of the lake, Shane took a quick shower, dressing himself in a black t-shirt and tight, grey jeans before heading back to the Cabin. When he returned, he could hear Nate and Jason talking with someone, the other cabin mate, he assumed. When he entered, however, he did a double take. The boy that his band mates were talking to was the same boy that he had been watching down at the lake.

"Oh! Shane, there you are!" Jason smiled, standing up and grabbing Shane's arm, pulling him over to the conversation. "Shane, this is Maxxie Oliver, he's the new dance instructor – and guess what?! He's BRITISH! How awesome is that! He's from…um…shit."

"Bristol," Maxxie offered, standing and holding a hand out to Shane. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah…likewise I guess." Shane gulped, shaking the boy's hand awkwardly.

"Alright, well Jason and I are off to the showers," Nate proclaimed, standing up.

"Wait, we are?" Jason asked.

"Yes, we are." Nate nodded. "I feel sweaty, I want a shower and you're coming."

"Oh. Got it!" Jason grinned, grabbing two towels and following after Nate like a loyal dog.

"Wow," Shane faked a laugh as his friends left. "Can you say whipped?"

"I saw you, you know." Maxxie folded his arms across his chest, covering the logo on his white t-shirt. "I know that you were watching me at the lake."

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_**A/N Maxxie Oliver is a character from the BBC show Skins, this is kind of a crossover, there are picture links and a video link on my profile!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh…" Shane gulped, biting his lip as he looked down, catching a glimpse not only at the boy's green converse but his incredibly baggy cargo pants. "I'm sorry?"

"You don't have to be," he shrugged. "I just don't need a stalker, ok? I've been through that before and it's not fun, so yeah…I don't really like, um, being watched."

"I wasn't – I mean I was just hanging out at the lake, I wasn't stalking you." Shane frowned. He couldn't tell whether this kid was conceited, paranoid or some weird mixture of the two, but he wasn't getting a good vibe from him.

"Oh." Maxxie nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally that offensive, I'm just a little bit nervous about that kind of thing," he sighed. "I had a girl follow me around a little bit about a year ago – she snuck into my room, slept under my bed, took a lot of pictures of me, she even slashed my tires once and poisoned a friend of mine so that she could star opposite me in a play."

"Oh wow." Shane's eyes widened. To him, that was good enough reason to be paranoid. As the front runner of Connect Three, yeah, he knew about stalker fan girls, but they had security and body guards to keep the girls away, no one could get anywhere NEAR close enough to them to sleep under their beds and spy on them.

"Yeah…forgive me for the paranoia?" Maxxie bit his lip and Shane couldn't help but gulp as he watched.

"Of course, yeah." Shane nodded. "I'm Shane, Gray."

"I know," Maxxie nodded. "I'm pretty sure that everyone around here does. God, when they told me that I would be working with bloody pop stars I figured you'd all be a load of tossers and slags, but so far you all seem pretty safe."

"I'm sorry?" Shane's eyes widened, only picking up about half of the words that were coming out of the English boy's mouth. The accent made him sound a good deal smarter than he would have if he were speaking with an American accent and his slang was so far off from anything that Shane knew.

"Oh, um…how do you word this in America." Maxxie paused, biting his lip for a moment. "I figured you'd all be a bunch of jerk-offs and sluts but so far you all seem pretty cool."

"Hmm," Shane smiled. "Sounds better when you said it the first time."

"Yeah," Maxxie nodded. "I'm going to have to agree with you there."

"So…uh…how did you end up here from, Bristol, was it?" Shane asked, taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

"I was in London looking for work in plays and I was having trouble finding anything," he shrugged. "Then I got dumped and decided that it was time to give something new a shot, so I hopped a plane to New York and a did a couple of dance auditions before I got a call and an offer from camp staff – seemed like a good way to make some cash and spend my summer, so I accepted."

"Oh." Shane nodded. "Well I worked here last summer, so I can vouch for the it, it's not a bad place to make a few bucks."

"As long as I'm dancing, I'm happy." Maxxie shrugged. "I don't really have any visions of grandeur – I mean people tell me that I'm good enough, but so are a ton of other people and only a handful of us will really make it."

"True." Shane just nodded along some more, impressed with how grounded in reality the boy seemed to be. He had always known that he would be famous and his dreams had come true; his picture was on the bedroom wall of almost every teenaged girl, even a few boys, and people bought his albums, came to his shows and screamed when he walked by. "So Britain led to…Camp Rock."

"Yep," Maxxie nodded. "I like the outdoors, it's nice. My mate Tony back home called me a gonk for taking this job, he think camp counseling is stupid – I can't manage to convince him that I'm teaching, not counseling."

"We didn't really have much of a dance instructor last year, so it'll be nice to have someone for the kids who actually have physical rhythm."

"What," Maxxie grinned. "The boy band can't dance?!"

"Not for shit," Shane shook his head. "That's not how we make our money – I make mine by whining into a microphone and tugging at tight clothes, it's a lot of fun."

"Sexy." Maxxie laughed. "So…curly hair – that one's Nate, yeah?"

"Yup."

"Then the other one's Jason?"

"Bingo." Shane nodded.

"And they're together, yeah?" Maxxie asked.

"Yes, it's been a long time coming." Shane shrugged. Nate and Jason had been dancing ballets around each other for years, it was only fitting that they get together at some point.

"Shame, Nate's a ten. I'd give him one if he weren't with Jason…and, you know, if he weren't jail bait."

"You mean you're-."

"A poofter?" Maxxie nodded. "I am."

"Ah." Shane smiled slightly at the use of the odd slang. He liked the way that Maxxie spoke – it was so different from the way that everyone around him usually spoke and while he wasn't a fan of drastic changes, small differences like speech patterns were welcome.

"Shane?" There was a hesitant knock on the door and a second later, Mitchie entered.

"Hey babe." Shane slung an arm around her, kissing her on the cheek.

"That your bird?" Maxxie asked.

"My what?" Shane asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Girlfriend," Maxxie explained.

"Oh, yeah." Shane nodded. "Mitchie, Maxxie, Maxxie, Mitchie."

"Ay-up." Maxxie nodded politely at her.

"Hey." She smiled. "What do you teach?"

"Dance." Maxxie winked. "Like no other, of course.

"He's British?" She asked, turning to Shane. Shane nodded, smiling slightly. "Wow, we have a British dance instructor – you'd better watch out Maxxie, the ladies will be all over you."

"I don't think I'll have to worry about that too much." Maxxie shot Shane a quick wink, completely over looked by Mitchie.

"Oh, ok." Mitchie shrugged. "So Maxxie, would you mind giving Shane and I a few minutes?"

"Not a problem." Maxxie nodded politely before ducking out of the cabin.

"So," Mitchie smiled, wrapping her arms around Shane's waist. "Back at Camp Rock – I can practically feel the heat between us increasing just being back in the woods." She backed him up against the wall, kissing him fiercely. "Can't you?"

"Oh yeah." Shane nodded before kissing her back. He was hoping that this summer would be just what he needed to help rekindle the former passion, the former heat that they had had. Shane knew that if the nostalgia of a return to Camp Rock wasn't enough to reignite their passion, nothing would be.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ok, everybody I need you to try and listen to me – I know that I speak a bit off sometimes, so if you miss something I say, just slap the person next to you. That should make them squeal…or at least make some noise loud enough to get my attention." Maxxie's words were met with laughter as he smiled, standing in front of his first class. "Alright, so who here has any dancing experience?" Maxxie watched as a few hands went up. "Ok, keep your hand up if you've done ballroom dancing." A few kids put their hands down. "Now keep or put your hand up if it's ballet or chorus line dancing. Now modern dance. Any cultural dancers? African, Indian, Native American? Good. Ok, what about Jazz? Tap? Hip hop?" He watched the hand counts change for each various kind of dance. "Now who can do a combination of at least five or more?" Very few hands went up. "Alright, the key to being able to this is being able to dance to _anything_ – that's the way to please a crowd." He smiled, getting a slight rush from teaching the kids.

Shane, who didn't have his next class for almost an hour, leaned up against the doorway, watching as Maxxie spoke to his first class. They all seemed to be paying attention and he couldn't help but notice that at least a few of the girls seemed to be swooning. He could see how a girl would find the boy attractive – after all he had good hair, good eyes, a clearly amazing body and a fun, charming smile. Maxxie was nice and he knew how to talk to people, the only thing that he really had left to prove was his talent.

"Ok," Maxxie looked at the kids. "I'm gonna show you what I mean. Who brought their iPods?" Several hands went up. "You, girl in the tie dye, what's your name?"

"Celia." She answered.

"Alright Celia, grab your iPod and pick a random song, any song." Maxxie held his hand out.

"Um, ok." The girl went to her bag and grabbed a green iPod from it, selecting a song and handing it to Maxxie.

"Cheers." He nodded and stuck the iPod into the speakers, pausing it to speak to the group again. "I'm going to show you what I mean." He hit play and Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy poured through the speakers. Maxxie took a deep breath, closed his eyes, counting himself off before thrusting his body into the music. Jaws dropped all around the room, Shane's included, as Maxxie's body twisted and contorted in perfect time to the music as though he had practiced it a thousand times. About a minute into the song he stopped, pausing the iPod and removing it from the speakers. "So that was Fall Out Boy- you in the orange shorts, that's your name?"

"Colin," the boy piped up.

"Give me something different than that."

"Sir, yes sir!" The boy stood, saluting Maxxie as he went to grab his MP3 player, handing it to Maxxie, eager to see what was going to happen.

"Cheers," Maxxie said again as he put the music on. This time Written in Blood by Bring Me The Horizon blasted through the speakers. Again, Maxxie closed his eyes, counted himself off and began to dance, his body jerking along to the harsh music perfectly. "That was scary," he quipped as he handed the music back to the boy. A few more of the kids laughed, mostly girls who, by now, seemed completely awe-struck. "Who's got something different for me?"

"I do," a girl spoke up. "I don't think you can do it though."

"Oh yeah?" Maxxie smirked. "What's your name?" He asked as she went to gather her iPod.

"Sandra." She tossed her blonde hair as she handed over her pink iPod.

"Alright Sandra – let's see what you've got."

"I've Gotta Find You by Shane Gray." She grinned turning around and sitting back down, waiting to see what he did with the song.

"Fine." Maxxie shrugged, putting in the track. He closed his eyes, counted, and within seconds was moving across the floor with fluid, almost ballet-like motions. This time he did the whole song, just to prove that he could, before handing the iPod back. "Next?" He asked.

"You really can dance to anything, can't you!?" A boy asked, grabbing his music, selecting a track and handing it over.

"I try," Maxxie shrugged as he closed his eyes again and counted himself off to Wannabe by the Spice Girls. The dancing for that involved a lot of hip movement and seemed to be a favorite amongst the crowd. He finished to several hoots and hollers, grinning as he handed the iPod back. "Ok, so divide into groups of three, make sure that at least one of you has your MP3 thingy…there were only a few of you that didn't, so that should be ok. Don't pick your own song and it's better if it's something that you've never heard – try to dance to it. I'll walk around and see how it goes. Have fun." Maxxie smiled as he watched the groups divide up.

"That was quite the show," Shane mused, walking up to Maxxie as the blond made his rounds.

"It inspired them, see? Maxxie grinned as he gestured to a girl who was trying to dance to One Week by the Barenaked Ladies and having a little bit of difficulty. "They're having fun – they get to dance to music that they like."

"Seems to be that way," Shane nodded, grinning.

"Hope I didn't botch your song too terribly," Maxxie tilted his head to the side. "Never heard it before, have to admit seeing your name there was a bit of a curveball, but I couldn't let that girl win, now could I?"

"Of course not." Shane laughed, shaking his head. "And you did a great job."

"Thanks." Maxxie smiled.

"No problem," Shane shrugged. "The Fall Out Boy song – you moved really, really well to that one."

"Thanks – but in all honesty, that's a really, really easy song to dance to, I mean it is called Dance, Dance. Also, I've heard it a lot before and I dance to it sometimes when I'm warming up."

"If that was warming up, I can't wait to see what you're like when you're in your game."

"You will," Maxxie smiled. "But I'm in my best element around 2 AM. Don't know why, but the creativity just flows through my body after midnight and it's a good, quiet time."

"You dance at 2 AM?" Shane asked. "Where?"

"Outside." Maxxie shrugged. "ALRIGHT! EVERYBODY!" he clapped his hands. "Reconvene – everyone, pick thirty seconds of whatever song you did best with and show the class!" He watched as the group came back together. "This won't be that interesting," Maxxie admitted to Shane. "But if you're free, you should come back tomorrow, we're doing tap."

"I don't know how to tap dance," Shane admitted.

"Neither do 95% of these kids," Maxxie shrugged. "Why don't you join the class? Improve your stage show?"

"What's wrong with my stage show?" Shane frowned.

"I don't know, never seen it – but if you don't tap, then you could improve the show." He winked before turning back to the class. "Show me what you've got!"


	4. Chapter 4

A week passed by quickly and Shane both tried to learn how to dance and tried to reignite his relationship with Mitchie. Unfortunately, the dancing was working better than the romance. Maxxie was a fantastic teacher and Shane could tell that the entire class was learning not only willingly, but quickly. Everyone, including Shane, was inspired by the way that Maxxie's body moved with perfection and fluidity when he gave the examples at the start of every lesson. Shane found himself more and more entranced each day with the manner in which the boy's torso could remain perfectly still as he tapped out an entire number – or the way that he could do a back flip as though it were nothing.

"Hey," Maxxie tapped Shane on the shoulder after class. "You're really improving."

"Thanks." Shane smiled. "You're a good teacher."

"If you want to move ahead of the class I can teach you after hours," Maxxie offered. "I mean just like half an hour after the campers have lights out."

"Really?" Shane asked.

"Of course." He nodded. "You have potential, I really like seeing students improve and it's easier to teach well one on one."

"How do you so much about teaching?" Shane asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a hand towel.

"I used to teach younger kids at the studio in order to pay for all of my own lessons," he shrugged. "When you do a lot of different kinds of dance, lessons can really start to cost and my family didn't have a lot of money."

"Oh." Shane nodded. "Well it really paid off – I would love to stay and talk but I have a Stage Presence and Microphone Tricks class to teach in about 3 minutes."

"Tonight,' Maxxie smiled. "Right here, 10:30."

"I'll be here." Shane gave Maxxie a quick nod before running out of the door.

***

That night at 10:30, just as they had agreed upon, Shane showed up in Maxxie's classroom. Maxxie was already there, stretching out so that he was ready to start.

"You warmed up?" he asked, looking up at Shane.

"I went for a run about an hour ago and did stretches after that," Shane shrugged.

"Why don't you do a few more then while I'm finishing up and then we can get to work." Shane nodded and sat down, working on stretching out his lower back and legs, though he couldn't help but notice how flexible Maxxie was. "Ok," Maxxie smiled. "Anything particular that you want to work on?"

"I really enjoyed the tap…" Shane bit his lip. "If you don't mind?"

"I love tap." Maxxie grinned. "Here, hold your torso still, like this." Maxxie didn't move on top as he tapped out a few beats.

"I can't do that!" Shane frowned as he tried, though his torso wiggled around.

"Ok, here." Maxxie put his hand on Shane's shoulders, holding him still. "Now tap." Shane gulped. It was hard to remember the steps with Maxxie's hands holding him down, it was hard to focus on the rapid movement and the strong grip on his shoulders. "That's better," Maxxie smiled. "You're doing good."

"Thanks." Shane smiled, biting his lip as he focused as hard as he could on the dancing, trying to ignore the touch. "You know, it might help if you showed me again."

"Yeah?" Maxxie tilted his head to the side. "Do you want to see it with the shoes?"

"Yeah!" Shane nodded. "That would be awesome."

"Ok, hold on." Maxxie went to the corner and grabbed his old tap shoes, slipping them on. They were loved, but he wasn't able to afford new ones, so they would have to do. He smiled as he walked back to the center of the room. He hit play on the music and began to tap, putting everything that he had into his dancing. Tap was one of his favorite forms of expression – he loved the way that it felt, the noise that it made and the response that it almost always pulled from the audience.

"That was fantastic!" Shane applauded. "Show me?"  
"You won't be able to do that for like…two years." Maxxie bit his lip. "That's hard stuff right there."  
"Oh…right, well show me something basic?" Shane asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Of course." Maxxie nodded, smiling. "Here, come on." For the next hour, Maxxie worked on showing simple steps to Shane. "You're doing really, really well." Maxxie took a gulp of water. "I'm beat."

"You're beat?" Shane let out a low whistle. "I feel like I'm about to pass out."

"I think we're done for tonight." Maxxie grinned, taking off his tap shoes.

"Definitely," Shane stretched out. "I need to walk that out…"

"I'll come with you?" Maxxie phrased it as though it were a question, waiting for Shane's approval.

"Yeah," Shane nodded. "Of course."

"Just let me lock up and I'll meet you outside."

"Ok." Shane headed out to get some fresh air while Maxxie locked up the classroom before joining the pop star.

"You know, you're really nothing like the pop stars I've heard about," Maxxie said as they began to walk, heading instinctively to traipse around the lake. "They're all divas – I'd actually heard that you were a bit of a ponce, to be honest."

"I used to be," Shane sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Really?" Maxxie's eyes widened in surprise. "Must have been a long time ago."

"A year," Shane admitted. "Almost to the date, to be honest. I let fame go to my head and I pretty much lost control of who I had been."

"What brought you back?" Maxxie asked, slinging his tap shoes over his shoulder. "If you don't mind me asking, I mean."

"Mitchie," Shane bit his lip as he began the story. "I met her here. At first I didn't know who she was, I fell in love with her voice, with a song that I heard her singing in a spare room, but by the time I entered the room, she had gone. I didn't realize that it was her until the final night at the competition…that night it felt like magic had brought us together, to sing, you know…" Shane sighed. "And to be together."

"That's really romantic," Maxxie smiled, pushing his shoulder against Shane's in a teasing manner.

"Yeah," Shane kicked a rock on the ground. "It was great for a couple of months, then it was good for about 4 more and now…" he looked up at the stars. "The passion just seems to be gone. I really, REALLY wish that I could get it back, I mean I really did love her at first. The thing is, she still loves me and she doesn't seem to know that anything's wrong. I can't break her heart – the person that I was a year ago broke hearts like hickory nuts, but now…I don't play that game."

"Then put the passion back into the relationship." Maxxie shrugged as thought it were a simple matter, continuing to walk.

"I'm trying but it's not working." Shane frowned. "I thought that if we came back here that I would rediscover the person that I fell in love with, but so far…it's just not happening that way."

"I'm sorry." Maxxie sighed. "You know…if you'd be willing to try something…"

"God, anything, I don't want to hurt her."

"Tango." Maxxie bit his lip.

"Tango?" Shane stopped walking, looking skeptically at Maxxie. "Isn't that basically sex on the dance floor?"

"When it's done incorrectly, maybe," Maxxie shrugged. "But when a Tango is done correctly, there is no dance more passionate. I could teach you, if you want. If that won't put the passion back into your relationship than I don't believe that anything will. When the Tango stopped working for James and I…" Maxxie trailed off. "Well we broke up."

"So…you'll teach me how to Tango and that's the final test?" Shane asked.

"That's up to you," Maxxie shrugged again. "I'll teach you, you decide if that's that."

"Ok." Shane nodded. "Same time, same place tomorrow night?"

"Yeah." Maxxie agreed. "You heading back to the cabin?"

"Yeah, you?" Shane asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna have a swim to cool off, I think. You can join me if you want to."

"I'm good, you really wore me out." Shane smiled, turning to go. "Oh, and Maxxie? Thanks for the talk and the offer to help."

"Anytime." Maxxie nodded as he watched Shane walk away. Once he was sure that Shane was a safe distance, he pulled out his cell phone.

"This had better be good you fucking sausage jockey," Tony, Maxxie's best friend, grunted the insult from the other end of the line. "You woke me."

"I've got a problem…" Maxxie closed his eyes. "I've made a mistake, Tone..."


	5. Chapter 5

Shane and Maxxie met again the next night, Maxxie walking Shane through the basic steps to the Tango. They worked for almost an hour before Shane grew too worn out to continue, but Maxxie, ever faithful to Shane's needs, promised to help him again the next night and the night after.

"Hey," Mitchie came up to Shane on the morning after the third night of Tango lessons. She looked her arm through his, kissing him softly. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with Maxxie – I'm not sure who to be more jealous of, you or him. You're both gorgeous…but I can't hit on either of you if you're off together."

"You'd better not hit on him!" Shane smiled at her. "He's been helping me with something." Shane bit his lip. "A gift for you – before you ask what it is, I'm not telling, it has to be perfect first…and besides, you wouldn't get anywhere if you hit on him, Maxxie's a one man gay pride parade."

"Really?" Mitchie looked slightly surprised. "Well don't tell Sandra Kramer that, I have her in class right after she does and she's got a bad case of 'crushing on the teacheritis.'"

"I think a lot of the girls swoon for him, I guess I can't blame them,' Shane shrugged. "He has an accent, after all. Just so long as I know he's no competition for you, though, I'm happy." He kissed her on the forehead. "Just one more night, ok? Then I'm all yours."

"One more night?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"One more night," Shane nodded. "And I'll have something to show you that will knock your socks off."

"Really?" Mitchie bit her lip, hiding a shy smile.

"Oh yeah, just you wait!" He grinned. "You're gonna love it!"

"If it's from you, baby, I'm sure that I will." She smiled up at him, kissing him again. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled.

***

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Shane smiled as he entered the dance studio. "I had to get these." He handed Maxxie a box.

"What's this?" Maxxie asked, frowning as he looked at the wrapped package.

"A gift for helping me out," Shane shrugged.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Maxxie bit his lip, feeling a little awkward.

"Well I did, so you should open it." Shane smiled. "I really think you'll like it."

"Er…ok." Maxxie sat down on the ground, carefully removing the paper from the box and opening it. "Tap shoes…wow…" the shoes were brand new and clearly in perfect shape. "Shane…these are expensive shoes…I – I can't accept this."

"Well you have to because I bought them and I don't think that anyone else here really has much use for high end tap shoes."

"Well thank you," Maxxie smiled. "That was very, very generous of you."

"You've been giving up a lot of your time," Shane shrugged. "Shall we dance?"

"We shall." Maxxie nodded. "Hey, you don't mind…" he pulled his shirt off. "Do you? It's really, really hot in here."

"I don't mind, but it's not that hot…"

"I was break dancing for an hour before you got here," Maxxie admitted. "There is no better way to work up a sweat…at least not one that I've discovered."

"You really do spend a lot of time dancing," Shane mused as he stood up, preparing for the tango.

"I know," Maxxie shrugged. "It's the most consistent thing in my life and it never lets me down. No matter what happens, so far I've always been able to dance, and with a little luck, I always will be." Maxxie reached out his hand to Shane. "Now lead me in the perfect tango."

"I can try." Shane bit his lip. "I dunno…"

"I'm pretty sure that you're ready." Maxxie nodded. "Just put your hand on my waist like we practiced and go where the music take you."

"Ok." Shane took a deep breath, placing his hand on Maxxie's waist, trying to ignore the fact that his hand was making direct contact with Maxxie's muscular torso. He couldn't deny that the boy was built – his muscle the perfect size for the rest of his body. As the music started, however, he attempted to pour everything that he had into the dance, making it as passionate and fiery as he knew how to. The music ended with Shane's hand on Maxxie's chest, the pop star breathing heavily while the dancer, used to the form of exercise, smiled.

"That was great, Shane." Maxxie grinned. "Want to try it one more time?"

"Yeah," Shane nodded. "If you don't mind."

"I don't, I like the tango," he shrugged. "Just let me grab a sip of water first." Maxxie walked over to the corner and reached for his water bottle. Shane couldn't help but notice the way that Maxxie's back muscles rippled as he bent over and stood back up again. "Alright, let's go!"

"Right." Shane nodded, placing his hand on Maxxie's waist again. "Let's dance." They slipped easily into the tango, Shane leading Maxxie in the passionate, romantic, elegant dance. It was clear that Shane had made a lot of improvement since beginning the lessons. He guided Maxxie around the floor in a stylish, sensual fashion, twirling him and dipping him, running his hands all over the blond's body – a gesture which Maxxie returned, allowing himself to become completely engulfed in the dance. As the music ended, Shane pulled Maxxie's body close to his, just as Maxxie had taught him.

"And this is were you would-" Maxxie began to explain to Shane that this was the moment in the dance where he should kiss Mitchie, but Shane stopped him, interrupting him by placing a hand on the back of Maxxie's neck and kissing him. Shane's hands moved down, traveling over Maxxie's back as his eyes fluttered closed. The kiss was unexpected to both boys, and for Shane, kissing Maxxie was odd, both new and frightening at the same time, but what was more frightening than the fact that he was kissing Maxxie was the fact that Maxxie was kissing him back.

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_**A/N Ok, so question - do you guys feel ok about Maxxie? I mean I know that some of you know Skins, but those of you who don't, do you feel like you need more background information on Maxxie?**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Shane, I-" Maxxie pulled away from the kiss after a few seconds, backing away, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, I can't. I shouldn't have done that." Maxxie grabbed his bag and pulled his iPod from the speakers before running out of the studio.

"MAXXIE!" Shane called after him, jogging from the studio to try and find the boy, but he was too late. He looked around, trying to spot Maxxie. He sighed, grabbed the box that Maxxie had left behind containing the new tap shoes, and locked up the studio before heading back to the cabin, hoping to find the young man. When he got back to the cabin, Shane was disappointed, but not surprised to find that Maxxie wasn't there. He set the shoes on Maxxie's bed and fell backwards onto his own, letting out a deep sigh.

"Are you ok?" Nate and Jason each lay down on one side of Shane.

"I…did something stupid," Shane sighed again, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair. "Something really, really fucking stupid."

"What did you do?" Jason asked. "It can't have been all that bad… I mean you've done some pretty stupid stuff before, I can't imagine that this could be any worse than the time you-"

"Jason, not now." Nate shook his head and Jason shut up instantly. "Shane, what happened?"

"I can't tell you," Shane shook his head. "You'll think I'm a terrible person…and you probably wouldn't be all that far off from the truth."

"Shane, we stood beside you before, when you were being a total asshole about everything and you think that we would think poorly of you _now_? Look around you, Shane, Jason and I are here for you, we always have been and we always will be. Just tell us what happened – we're on your side."

"I kissed Maxxie."

"You owe me ten bucks," Jason looked over at Nate.

"Not now!" Nate rolled his eyes.

"Wait," Shane sat up. "You two had a _bet_ going on me?" He looked at his band mates in horror. "You," he pointed to Jason, "thought that I would kiss Maxxie and you didn't even think to tell me?!"

"Well I wasn't sure," Jason shrugged. "It just seemed like you two had…what's that subject? The one in school that I never managed to pass?"

"Chemistry," Nate rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that!" Jason nodded. "You seemed…compatible."

"I'm straight," Shane argued. "How could you see me as compatible with a boy if I'm straight?"

"Are you sure about that?" Nate asked, biting his lip. "I mean did you kiss Maxxie or did Maxxie kiss you? Because if you kissed him…or even if he kissed you and you kissed him back, that says something about your sexuality. Or at least it should."

"I'm not gay ok?" Shane stood up. "I'm not gay and I'm not bisexual – you two are, and good for you, that's great! And good for Maxxie! He's a great guy, anyone would be lucky to have him, just like I'm lucky to have Mitchie and I can't lose her because of this, ok? So don't tell her, don't tell _anyone_, ok? In fact, pretend that I never said anything to you." He stood up, grabbing his sweatshirt. "We never had this conversation."

"Shane, where are you going!" Nate called after Shane as he headed out of the cabin door.

"To think." Shane replied, shutting the door without any further words. He walked down the pathway leading away from the cabins trying as hard as he could to make sense of what had happened. Maxxie had kissed him, it had to have been that way, otherwise Maxxie wouldn't have run off like that, Maxxie wouldn't have said that he shouldn't have done that. _If I had kissed him, he would have told ME that _I _shouldn't have done that_, Shane thought to himself, running his fingers through his hair. _But why does it feel like that's wrong? _Shane took a deep breath, sitting down on a large rock near the lake. _Because it is all wrong, Shane_, another part of his mind told him. _You kissed Maxxie, you know that you did and you need to accept and answer for your actions. Why did you do it?_ Shane asked himself the very question that he had been trying to avoid. He wanted to stay away from that question because he didn't have an answer for it, he couldn't say what had driven him to initiate a kiss with Maxxie and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer. He wasn't gay. He loved Mitchie.

"BLAST!" Shane stood abruptly as he heard a familiar voice cursing loudly through the night. He followed where he thought the sound had come from, and sure enough, he saw Maxxie in one of the clearings, his blond hair shining in the moon light as he danced to music that only he could hear, as he was wearing headphones. "FUCK!" Maxxie swore again as he missed a beat. "Stupid fucking ponce, you could do this yesterday…" he muttered to himself. Shane wasn't sure whether he should say anything or just walk away. Maxxie hadn't noticed the other boy's presence, and in light of very recent events, Shane felt that it was best he kept his distance rather than impose on the boy while he was dancing. After all, Maxxie had said that dancing was his outlet and right now Shane was pretty sure that meant that dancing was his way of ignoring Shane…and what had happened between them.

Shane walked back to the cabin, being careful not to go too quickly. He had no idea what was going on and he knew that staying up all night worrying about it was not the way to fix things – maybe Maxxie could function full energy off of just a couple of hours of sleep, but Shane needed his beauty rest. When he got back to the cabin a second time, he crawled into bed and pulled the blankets around him. This time, Nate and Jason just let him do as he would, leaving him alone and saving their questions for a time when Shane would be more prepared to answer them…if he was ever more prepared to answer them.

The next morning, Shane didn't see Maxxie at breakfast and he couldn't manage to work up the courage to go to Maxxie's class. Instead, during the time off before the class he taught, he went for a walk, again by himself, to try and figure out what he was going to do. With any luck, Maxxie would keep his mouth shut about the kiss and that night he would take Mitchie to the studio and show her what he had been working on. From there, the fire would be rekindled and they would be back to their previous passion…or so he hoped. However, even Shane knew that he wouldn't know until he tried it and with each step that he took and with each breath that he inhaled, he felt more and more as though there was nothing left on earth that could stop the flame between himself and Mitchie from running out of oxygen.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey." Shane snuck up behind his girlfriend at dinner, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck gently. "Don't make plans for tonight after lights out, ok?" he whispered in her ear. "And wear a dress, I know you have one."

"What do you have in mind?" she asked, turning around to face him, kissing him before waiting patiently for his response.

"If I told you then it wouldn't be much of a surprise now, would it?" He grinned. "Don't worry, you're going to love it, I think that it will really be something. Tonight's going to be a good night for you and I, I can feel it."

"Are you finally done spending so much time with Maxxie?" She asked, tilting his head to the side. "I think he's great, don't get me wrong, and I know that you're working on a surprise for me, but I just can't help feeling that I've come all the way back here with you and I'm hardly ever getting to see my boyfriend!" She smiled her wide smile, kissing him on the cheek.

"If tonight goes well," Shane returned her smile, trying to hide the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him that the night would not go well. "Then I'm all yours for the rest of the summer…and afterwards, of course."

"And if tonight doesn't go well?" Mitchie frowned, trying to figure out what he meant. It was clear from his tone that he wasn't telling her something, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Then I need more work before I can be all yours," he shrugged. "Don't worry babe, it's all going to be good, I really think that tonight is going to be perfect – at least I'm working hard to make sure that it turns out to be that way. Just come to the lake at 10:30, wear a dress and be prepared for the best night of your life."

"That's a lot for this date of yours to live up to, now I know that you're a rock star, but the greatest night of my life? That's not shooting for the stars a little bit?"

"Baby," Shane held her close. "When it comes to you, even the stars are in reach."

"Alright, Casanova," Mitchie rolled her eyes at how cheesy his statement was. "You've got me all excited now, you had better deliver."

"I will, don't worry." Shane grinned. "I planned this all for you and I just know that you're going to love it. Now I have to run and get ready." Shane grabbed a roll off of Mitchie's plate. "I have to make sure that everything is perfect. See ya." He kissed her on the cheek before dashing off, eating the roll quickly as he made his exit.

"Ok, even for Shane that was weird…" Nate admitted, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, I mean today he's all over you with this spastic energy when last night he was talking about how-" Nate kicked Jason under the table. "How tired he's been all week!" Jason corrected himself quickly, hoping that Mitchie wouldn't notice.

"I guess that you just bring out that special energy in him," Nate shrugged, inwardly glad that he had managed to stop Jason before he said anything too awfully detrimental to Shane and Mitchie's tabloid pleasing relationship.

"I hope so!" Mitchie grinned as she took a bite of her chicken. "He's a really special guy."

"I know," Nate nodded. He couldn't help but feel bad not telling Mitchie what Shane had confided in him and Jason the night before, but Shane was one of his best friends and he had only known Mitchie for a year – for now, at least, he had to trust that Shane would tell her everything when the time was right, and he was hoping that Shane would have a good explanation for why he had done what he had with Maxxie.

***

"Wow…Shane…" Mitchie let out a gasp as Shane led her into the studio. He had dimmed the bright studio lights and decorated the room with tiny white lights and cleaned the whole thing up, making it look like a real, romantic location. "Shane, this is beautiful."

"We haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Shane smiled, grabbing the remote control to the iPod speakers. He had transferred the song from Maxxie's computer to his own, making sure that he had the one that he had been practicing to. He hit play and put his hand on Mitchie's waist, taking her hand in his free one.

"Shane, this is-"

"A tango." He grinned, leading her quickly into the dance as the music started.

"Oh wow," Mitchie breathed, grinning as she followed Shane in the dance. She wasn't new to the tango, but Shane couldn't push from his mind the thought that she wasn't as good as Maxxie. Then again, there had been no reason for him to suspect that she would be better than Maxxie and he wanted nothing more than for his head to be rid of the blond, especially right now – this was his time with Mitchie and he didn't want Maxxie in his head, screwing with him. As he dipped her low he couldn't help but notice that, even though she was a girl, her back didn't arch in the same, flawless manner as Maxxie's, and as he pulled their bodies together at the end, just as he had done the night before, he couldn't help but feel that everything was all wrong. Still, just as Maxxie had been trying to tell him yesterday, as the dance ended, he pulled her in to a deep kiss.

As they pulled away from the kiss, Shane felt like crying. The fire wasn't there. He had been so sure that if he did everything that he could, he would be able to pull the passion back to him…but it had failed. If Maxxie was correct, and at this point, Shane was sure that he was, this was it. The tango hadn't worked for them, and as Maxxie had said, when the tango fails, it's time to move on. He didn't want to move on, he didn't want to hurt Mitchie – she had been nothing but wonderful to him, nothing but fantastic for his career, and as much as that meant to him, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up this charade much longer.

"Shane," Mitchie grinned at him. "That was amazing! I mean…just wow!" She breathed heavily as she looked at him. "I didn't ever expect you to go out of your way to learn something like that – especially for me!"

"You're worth it," Shane smiled, kissing her lightly again. It was true, he did feel that she was worth the trouble of learning the dance. Just because he didn't feel the same intensity towards her romantically as he once had didn't mean that he didn't still think she was a fantastic person. She was gaining status as her single, Who Will I Be quickly rose to number one, alongside their This Is Me duet. She would be a full on star once her album came out and then she would be able to get anyone and anything that she wanted. For now, she was Mitchie Torres, girlfriend of Shane Gray and starlet on the rise, but a year from where they stood, Shane knew that she would have made a name all her own. She didn't need him, she never had – it had been him that had needed her, but he had taken all that she could give him and now they were ready to be nothing more than friends…or at least that's what Shane was ready for. Unfortunately, thinking something and acting on it are two different things, and Shane had no idea how to tell Mitchie what he was thinking


	8. Chapter 8

Tr5"Have you seen Maxxie?" Shane walked back to the cabin a couple of hours later to find, not that he was surprised, that Maxxie wasn't around.

"He came by earlier and changed, but that was about an hour ago – he looked nice, I think that maybe he was going into town or something." Nate shrugged. "How was your night with Mitchie?"

"It…went well," Shane shrugged. "I just really need to talk to Maxxie right now, I'm going to see if I can find him." Without waiting for a response from Nate or Jason, he turned on his heel, still in his nice clothing, and set off to find Maxxie. He checked the lake, but Maxxie wasn't there, nor was the boy in the studio. Shane sighed, tapped out for locations. If Maxxie looked nice, he probably wasn't going to be dancing in the woods, but maybe he had gotten hungry. Shane decided to stop by the mess hall, just to see if maybe Maxxie had decided he was hungry. "Oh my god…" he whispered as he looked into the dining area and saw almost the last thing that he had been expecting. Maxxie was lying down on one of the long tables, ferociously making out with Scott, one of the young men who worked in the kitchen. Shane couldn't explain why he felt so torn up inside – even more so than he had when he had failed to heat things up with Mitchie. He frowned, picking up a pebble and throwing it at the window so that Maxxie would know that he was there before walking away.

"Shit…" Maxxie sighed, pushing Scott away and exiting, tucking his shirt back in as he walked outside. "SHANE!" he called. "WAIT!"

"Is that why you pulled away last night?" Shane turned around. "Because you're fucking Scott?"

"NO!" Maxxie shook his head, looking hurt. "Shane, last night I _wanted_ to kiss you; I pulled away because you have a girlfriend who _loves_ you and I'm pretty sure that somewhere inside, you love her too."

"No." Shane looked down, biting his lip as he shook his head. "I…I don't love her," he whispered. "I tried the tango…nothing. Not like last night, last night was – I just felt overwhelmed, I'm sorry." Shane gulped. "Look…Maxxie, go back to Scott, ok?"

"No." Maxxie shook his head again. "I just found out that Scott was gay a couple of hours ago, I don't even like him, I'm just lonely." He sighed, biting his lip. "My life hasn't been hard, but it sure as hell hasn't been easy either, and after what happened in Russia I can't let something like what happened between us last night happen again…or continue to happen."  
"What happened in Russia?" Shane frowned.

"It's…" Maxxie's face dropped and he started walking away from the mess hall towards the dock. "I pulled my mate, Tony." Maxxie bit his lip. "And then he um…then he took things a little further."

"What?" Shane frowned in confusion.

"I made out with my mate Tony because I was upset and I needed some cheering up and he wanted to try something new, so he gave me head…and his girlfriend fucking saw the whole thing – I thought that she was passed out cold, I'm pretty sure that Tony did to, she was fucking blitzed…she was SO mad, I mean he's not even AC/DC, yeah?" Maxxie sighed, finishing his anguished rant as he plopped down on the dock, running his fingers through his hair.

"AC/DC?" Shane frowned, sitting down next to Maxxie.

"Bifuckingsexual." Maxxie bit his lip.

"Oh," Shane frowned. "Wow…so he did all of that shit with you to cheer you up?"

"No." Maxxie shook his head. "Tony doesn't do things to cheer other people up, or at least he didn't before…no, that's another story for another day. He did what he did because he was bored and he couldn't get his hands on any drugs."

"Oh," Shane repeated, unsure of what else to say – how was he supposed to respond to that? There was no adequate way and he knew it.

"His girlfriend called me a slut…I ruined their relationship." Maxxie bit his lip. "I won't do that to you and Mitchie."

"Our relationship is dead," Shane sighed. "It's been that way for awhile."

"What are you saying, Shane?" Maxxie frowned, looking at Shane.

"I'm saying that…I'm not like your friend Tony." Shane frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maxxie asked, turning away from Shane and looking at the lake in front of them.

"It means I want to try to be with you instead of just fucking around with you try something new, ok? I don't know what it is, but there's something about you that makes me feel…different, that makes me feel the way that I used to around Mitchie."

"Shane…" he frowned. "You were straight two days ago."

"How do you know that?" Shane asked softly. "I mean you never asked…having a girlfriend, it doesn't mean that I'm only into girls."

"Oh." Maxxie bit his lip. "So you're-"

"AC/DC?" Shane cut in, stealing Maxxie's term. "I am." He nodded. "That ok with you?"

"It would be very hypocritical of me to say no right here," Maxxie pointed out.

"So what do you say?" Shane asked. "Do you feel something between us or is it just me?" His question was hesitant, as though he were afraid that Maxxie would answer with a negative reply, and wasn't sure if he could deal with that.

"I think that there is something between us, yes." Maxxie's answer was given slowly and it was clear to Shane that he was really thinking about things before he said them out loud. "But if you want there to be something between us other than friendship than there's something that you absolutely have to do first."

"What's that?" Shane asked hesitantly, afraid that whatever strings Maxxie was putting on their potential relationship would be too much for him.

"You nee to break up with Mitchie, Shane." Maxxie bit his lip. "I'm not saying that because I want you all to myself, I'm saying that because you can't hurt her the way that Tony hurt Michelle when he messed around with me – I won't be the slut in this situation, not this time."

"That's…that's fair," Shane nodded, looking at the lake. It looked almost black at night, bottomless, almost scary, the same as the feeling in his stomach at the moment.

"It's fair," Maxxie agreed. "But it's also hard…will you be able to do it?" He turned, looking seriously at Shane.

"I can do it." Shane nodded. "It's just…going to take time. I think."

"Then I'll wait," Maxxie stood up.

"Where are you going?" Shane asked, twisting his body to look after Maxxie.

"To dance this off." With that, Maxxie was gone, practically gliding through the night. He even walked with grace, and Shane couldn't tear his gaze away until he couldn't see Maxxie at all anymore. Then he stood up and headed back for the cabin, planning the most gentle way possible to break the news to Mitchie.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N Sorry about lack of posting, I have been doing homework and group work for college. Anyways, I also haven't been sleeping, literally not in almost three days until last night, so I'm making posting a little more sporadic and less regular until I can figure out how to sleep again. I'm sorry! I'll still post when I can! And that means like, once or twice a week probably. - Havah

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"Maxxie?" Two days later, Maxxie heard a knock on the studio door. Classes were over for the day and he was just packing up.

"Come in," he called as he shoved his new tap shoes into his bag.

"Hi…" Mitchie walked in, her eyes swollen with tears. She looked unhappy and confused as she approached Maxxie. "Do you have a few minutes to, you know, talk?"

"Um, yeah." Maxxie gulped. From the looks of things, Shane had called their relationship off and Mitchie was coming to confront him. He just hoped that he would be able to avoid the allegations of slut that had been bestowed upon him by Michelle a couple of years prior. "I'm sorry, there's not much of a place to sit in here…" he bit his lip, looking around the classroom.

"Floor is fine," she shrugged, sitting down, her back leaned up against the wall, gesturing for Maxxie to sit beside her. He did so, trying to hide the nervous fidgeting. "So…I know that you and Shane have been getting really close lately, so I thought that you might have a few of the answers that I'm looking for."

"I can try," Maxxie bit his lip.

"Shane…he broke up with me this afternoon." She looked down. "And it really caught me by surprise because last night he took me to the studio, and he had it all decorated and it was beautiful…He even learned how to tango and I felt like it went really, really well…so I don't know, I wasn't expecting him to break up with me."

"Oh." Maxxie frowned, wondering why she hadn't jumped on him yet. "Well what did he say?"

"He said that I deserved better than him – that I deserved someone who would love me unconditionally and I didn't understand because I honestly thought that was him." She shifted, wiping her eyes, clearly trying to head off tears. "I mean…I really love him and I thought he loved me to."

"He did love you," Maxxie bit his lip. "He told me that he loved you, he just…do you really want to hear what I have to say?"

"Yes," Mitchie nodded.

"Ok." Maxxie shifted again. "He told me a few days ago that he really loved you and that you were a very, very special girl. He told me that you changed him into a better person, into the person that he wanted to be…and then he told me the hard part." Maxxie looked away, sure that he wouldn't be able to tell Mitchie what he had to. "He told me that over the past few months he had felt the heat and passion of your romance together die out. He felt that bringing you here would be a way to reignite that passion. He thought that bringing you back to Camp Rock would bring that passion back. He tried so hard, Mitchie – he even learned the tango because I told him that, at least for me, it was the one thing that would determine whether or not a relationship had anything left to save." Maxxie hung his head, slightly ashamed as he finished.

"Oh." Mitchie looked at Maxxie, who continued to look away. "That was…thank you for telling me that.

"He tried really, really hard," Maxxie said again. "He really didn't want to hurt you, he never did – I could see it in his eyes, he felt awful last night when he came to me and told me that the tango hadn't worked. I'm really sorry Mitchie, really, I am."

"It's not your fault…" Mitchie sighed. "Maxxie…you're really a good guy, I see why Shane went to you to get help."

"Mitchie," Maxxie closed his eyes. He didn't want to be the one to tell her this, and it was Shane's prerogative not to, but he had to make it known. "Mitchie, I'm not the guy that you think I am. It may not be my fault that the passion between you two died, but there is something that you have to know and I think that it's important that I'm the one to tell you."

"What is it?" Mitchie asked, her eyes flickering with worry as he looked up.

"I…he…" Maxxie closed his eyes – he couldn't ruin Mitchie's image of Shane. "I kissed him," Maxxie blurted out. "The last night that we were working on the dance, I got caught up in the passion, in the heat and I…I leaned in and I kissed him. It didn't last very long, it didn't mean much, but it did happen."

"Are you saying that…Maxxie, you're gay for Shane?"

"Well technically I'm gay for everyone…" he shrugged. "I've always been gay, I just didn't mean to fall for him, really." Maxxie looked at Mitchie, a pained expression on her face. "I'm so sorry, Mitchie. Really…for what it's worth I told him that nothing was going to happen between us if he had a girlfriend."

"WHAT?" Mitchie stood up. "Maxxie, you owe me, now you have to tell me – did Shane kiss you back?" She put her hands on her hips, staring down at Maxxie.

"God...Mitchie, you don't want to ask that question."

"He did…didn't he." Mitchie looked down, gulping. "Oh my god…he broke up with me so that…so that he could be with you?!" She looked back at Maxxie, who stood slowly.

"Mitchie, I'm sorry…look, it's your turn to be honest. If you don't want him to be with me, I will tell him that it won't work – I'll turn him down."

"You would do that?" Mitchie asked. "You would turn down Shane just because I wasn't happy with it?"

"Yes." Maxxie nodded. "I came between the two of you and I definitely wouldn't blame you if you hated me, in fact, you probably should hate me. I don't deserve to be happy," Maxxie sighed. He had never intended to admit this again, but it was time. "I'm a slut, I'm sorry."

"Maxxie, you're not a slut," Mitchie sighed. "If he wants you, then he wants you…I love him and I want him to be happy. If you make him happy, you make him happy." She turned to leave the studio. "I don't like it, and you're right, I'm not happy with you, but you were honest with me, which is a little more than Shane was. So yes, I think that you stole my boyfriend, mostly because you did, but I'm not going to try to ruin your life. I'll see you around." With that, Mitchie left, and Maxxie felt awful. He felt worse than he would have if she had told him that she hated him, he felt worse than he did when Michelle had called him a dirty slut who fucked around with other people's boyfriends, and he didn't know what to do with that. He reached into his bag, pulling out the tap shoes again. He slipped them on and started the music, closing his eyes as he began to dance.

Maxxie put everything that he had into the moves, making sure that his toes and heels hit the ground in the perfect timing, making the clacking of the metal parts of the shoes sound beautiful, not like useless noise. When put to the music correctly, tap dancing could be one of the most beautiful forms of expression, and when it came to dancing, it was easily the loudest. Maybe that was why Maxxie liked it so much – it was like screaming at the top of his lungs, only he was screaming with his entire body, not just his voice, and what better way was there to get out your feelings than to scream as loud as you knew how to with every fiber of your being?


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N Ok, so due to college life schedule, I've decided to update ONCE a week...unless I get bored, which I doubt will happen. So yeah, if I don't update at least every 7 days, send me angry messages and remind me! I'm also sorry that replying to reviews is taking so long. IT WILL get done, I swear! **_

_**Love, Havah

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"Shane," Maxxie caught up with Shane just after dinner. "Come for a walk."

"Ok." Shane nodded,, turning his route to follow after Maxxie as the boy headed towards the wood. "What's up?"

"Mitchie came to me after class." He bit his lip. "She said that you ended things with her."

"I did," Shane nodded. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"It is," Maxxie nodded. "But not because I wanted you for myself, because I didn't want her to get hurt." Maxxie looked at the ground, kicking a rock as they walked. "She was so upset," he bit his lip. "She didn't understand why, I had to tell her, everything…the kiss, the reason that you broke up with her. I'm sorry, Shane, but she deserved to know why you were hurting her. I told her about the passion being gone, about the tango…"

"Oh." Shane bit his lip. "She hasn't said anything to me about it yet."

"And I'm not sure that she will, but Shane…I feel…I feel like a slut, just like I did with Tony and Michelle. I don't know why, I know that you broke things off with her before I let things get anywhere with us, but…" he frowned. "Shane, I feel disgusting. I broke you guys up…"

"No you didn't." Shane stopped, turning to face Maxxie, shaking his head. "Maxxie, I broke us up, you just helped me realize that there was nothing left for me to hang on to. You helped me realize that there was someone else that I wanted to be with.'

"And that someone was me?" Maxxie gulped.

"I guess so," Shane nodded. "Look, I broke up with her, we're done. You're NOT a slut, it's nothing like whatever happened with Tony and Michelle…Tony didn't want you, Maxxie, not like that."

"No, he didn't…" Maxxie gulped. "And I didn't want him, but…Mitchie's still hurt, Shane." He didn't know what to do. Maxxie was one of those people who hated to see people get hurt, even people that he hardly knew. He didn't report Lucy the girl that had stalked him, for all that she had done because he knew that she was, in reality, harmless, and he didn't want to see numerous lives altered just because he was angry with her.

"Is it better her than you?" Shane asked. "Or me?"

"Have you ever been hurt?" Maxxie asked. "You're what – 19?"

"Almost," Shane nodded.

"I'm 20, not much older than you and I've been hurt, I've been hurt several times by a lot of people, but that doesn't compare at all to some of the hurt that I've seen. What kind of hurt have you seen, Shane? What kind have you experienced?"

"My grandfather died when I was ten," Shane bit his lip. "We were sort of close." He gulped, slightly embarrassed that he had never really been hurt. Shane felt odd for letting this embarrass him – wasn't it a good thing to have never been hurt? Wasn't it good to have gone through life without feeling pain beyond belief? He had felt love, wasn't that enough?

"No," Maxxie shook his head. "Tony, he was hit by a bus a few months after the Russia incident. "He was in a coma for a few months after that and when he came out of it, he wasn't the same person that he had been. I had never seen so many people so hurt – he hardly remembered his relationship with Michelle, he _definitely _didn't remember it enough to continue it, and I had NEVER seen someone as brokenhearted as she was. As for his best friend, Sid…well Sid was the only one who visited him religiously in the hospital and when he finally came out of the coma, Sid lost it, he snapped, couldn't handle it." Maxxie tried to bite back tears at all of the memories. "Chris and Jal, they had their own problems, they couldn't help him because they needed to help themselves, and Cassie was in fucking Scotland. His parents went CRAZY, his dad couldn't handle it, his dad left, his mom slept all of the time, stopped working and his sister was always too fucked up to take care of him. Do you what that meant?" Maxxie asked, looking at Shane, his eyes wet with the tears he was trying to keep back.

"No," Shane whispered softly. "I don't."

"It meant that there wasn't anyone else to take care of him and it all fell to me. I was the ONLY person that was there for him. I took him places, tried to re-introduce him to society, but nothing made him happy – I was toting around a depressed boy, the shadow of my former friend…and I couldn't help him." Maxxie wiped away a few tears. "I tried and tried and I couldn't make him better. I tried to share my dancing with him, I tried to get him to come to my play and see that there were fun things in life…but I couldn't get him to care. He was in so much pain and I…I…" Maxxie sniffled. "I didn't know what to do. _That's_ being hurt, that's real pain, Shane…and Mitchie, she's not feeling that, but she's still hurt and I can't take it."

"Oh my god…" Shane reached out, pulling Maxxie into a hug. "Maxxie, I didn't know. I'm sorry, really."

"Don't be sorry to me," Maxxie shook his head. "I'm not the one that you hurt."

"What do you want me to do?" Shane asked, biting his lip.

"I want you to wait with us," Maxxie whispered, hugging Shane back. "I want you to keep us on hold until she has a chance to bounce back. I want to wait to start things until she's ok again…or at least more ok than she is right now."

"I can do that I guess…" Shane gulped. "I just…Maxxie…"

"What?" Maxxie pulled away slightly, not making eye contact with Shane.

"I dunno, I thought that this would be easy." Shane bit his lip.

"You're used to things being easy," Maxxie whispered. "Just like I was before everything went to hell."

"I guess so, but still…breaking up with her was hard."

"If that's the hardest thing you've had to do then you don't know." Maxxie shook his head. "Watching your friend look at people that love him and not remember, that's hard; seeing the girl who stalked you fucking your best friend, that's hard, falling for the American pop star with a GIRLfriend, that's hard – but I get through it. Waiting a few weeks for something to give someone time to heal, that's _nothing_, if that's too hard for you, Shane, then we won't work and we shouldn't even try." Maxxie looked down. He wanted things to work, but if Shane didn't know how to deal with not getting his way every step of the way, then he didn't know what else to do.

"No, I can do it, I can wait." He bit his lip. "Don't worry about it, Maxxie," he offered Maxxie a smile. "We can wait until Mitchie's better – I can wait."

"Ok," Maxxie nodded. "I don't mean to sound whiney, I don't have a lot of conditions normally; when it's just my heart, I'm a head first diver, I'll take risks like you wouldn't believe, but when it comes to other people getting hurt, I'm more cautious."

"You know what, Maxxie?" Shane asked, kissing the boy on the cheek. "All of that, everything that you've just said – it makes you a good person Maxxie. This," Shane reached out, placing his hand on Maxxie's chest, above his heart. "This is a heart of compassion. You're special, Maxxie, more so than I initially thought and I can wait a couple of weeks for someone who understands compassion…even if I don't really know it much myself."


	11. Chapter 11

"Tony?" Maxxie bit his lip as he curled up on the floor of the studio at 4 in the morning almost two weeks later. It was 9 in the morning in Bristol and it was the earliest that he felt comfortable calling his friend. "Tony, things aren't like they're supposed to be."

"What have you done this time?" Tony asked, sitting up in bed.

"That boy that I told you I was falling for…the big mistake?"

"The bloody pop star? The one with the girlfriend?"

"Yeah, that one." Maxxie nodded despite the fact that Tony couldn't see him.

"Well go on."

"I was wrong," Maxxie sighed. "He…he fancies me, he's broken up with his girl and now I'm not sure what to do. She's hurt, Tony, really hurt…he broke her heart to be with me and I don't know if I can deal with that."

"Maxxie," Tony rolled his eyes. "You need to take something for yourself or you're never going to be happy. This boy, if he wants you and you want him, fucking go for it! He doesn't like the girl, he likes you, so why should all three of you be unhappy? If he likes you, he isn't going to go back to the girl and there's no way that she'll fix her broken heart that way. The way that it is if you let him go isn't the way that anyone wants it." Tony paused to take a breath. "If you walk away from this, Maxxie, you're going to spend the rest of your life, or at least a good chunk of it, wondering what would have happened if you had just STOPPED thinking about other people's feelings and started acting on your own."

"But-"

"I'm not done," Tony cut Maxxie off, keeping him from finishing his sentence. "Maxxie, I love Michelle, she's right here next to me."

"So that's why you're whispering," Maxxie smiled slightly.

"Yeah, anyways my point is we both got hurt, really hurt, before we could make this work…and a lot of other people got hurt in the way, you were one of them. Maxxie, you've taken a lot of shit, mostly from me, now take something good. You deserve it."

"Are you sure?" he bit his lip.

"I'm sure, Maxxie." Tony nodded. "Now look, 'Chelle's waking up so I have to go, but Maxxie, either get some sleep or get some ass." With that, Tony hung up, leaving Maxxie sitting on the floor of the dance studio, unsure of what to do. Maxxie slowly stood up. Tony was right, he had taken a lot of shit that Tony had dished out, but it wasn't just Tony…he had dealt with people wanting to hurt him because he was gay, he had dealt with a fucking stalker, and yeah, he had been happy before with James, but they had fallen out of love. He was 20 years old, James wasn't his last chance at love, not by a long shot and the things that Tony had said were making sense. He walked back towards the cabin quickly, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he went.

"Shane," Maxxie shook Shane awake, whispering so that he wouldn't disturb Jason or Nate. "Shane, wake up."

"What is it?" Shane whined, rolling over to face Maxxie and opening one eye. "My alarm isn't going off…what time is it?"

"It's like…4:15 in the morning, come with me." Maxxie whispered.

"At 4 in the fucking morning?" Shane asked, sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, look, it's important." He bit his lip. "At least it is to me, I think that you should come with me, I mean you don't have to if you don't want to, but I would like you to." Maxxie backed away a little bit, wanting Shane to feel as though he had a choice in whether or not to come or go back to sleep.

"Oh, no, I do." Shane nodded, standing up and pulling a shirt on over his bare chest. "Sorry, just a little tired." He yawned as he reached for a pair of shorts, pulling them on over his boxers. "Ok, ready to go," he said as he slipped on his shoes and headed for the cabin door. "What's up?"

"I've been thinking a lot…about us, about my past, about what's happened to me and my friends and what might happen in the future and I've made a few decisions."

"What have you decided?" Shane asked, biting his lip as they headed on autopilot for the dock. It was becoming their place – the lake, where they had first seen each other.

"I've decided that maybe it's time I did something that I want to do." He stopped as he reached the dock, pulling his shirt off and kicking his shoes to the side.

"And that's what?" Shane asked. "Jumping into a freezing cold lake at 4 in the morning?"

"Sort of," Maxxie shrugged, going to the edge of the dock and doing a perfect flip-turned-dive into the lake. He surfaced again a couple of seconds later, shaking his wet, blond hair from his eyes. "Come on in, the water's great!" he called.

"You're crazy," Shane rolled his eyes as he stripped down to his shorts. "Fucking crazy Brit." He jack knifed into the lake, sure that he couldn't do any sort of dive even half as elegant as Maxxie, so he didn't even try. "What do you want?" he asked as he swam closer to Maxxie.

"You," Maxxie whispered, pushing Shane up against the dock, holding himself up by grabbing the dock with one hand as he put the other on Shane's cheek, guiding him into a soft kiss.

"Yeah?" Shane asked, smiling as he pulled away from the kiss and used his upper body strength to push himself out of the water and up onto the dock.

"Yeah." Maxxie followed suit, sitting next to Shane on the wood. He didn't say anything else as he rested his right hand against the back of Shane's neck, kissing him fiercely this time. Shane returned both the kiss and the passion, gently pushing Maxxie down on the dock and straddling the blond's hips as he deepened the kiss.

"So it's us now?" Shane asked, breaking the kiss to take a slow, deep breath.

"It is," he nodded.

"You know that we can't come out publicly as a couple," Shane bit his lip. "Just to our friends – Nate, Jason, Mitchie obviously, whoever you're close to back home…but that's it."

"What?" Maxxie frowned. "Why?"

"I'm Shane Gray. If I'm gay, if Nate and Jason are gay, we lose half of our fan base, even more. Jason and Nate have made their relationship work from the closet." Shane frowned slightly. "I thought that you knew…we can't be open."

"I guess…I guess that's part of being with you," Maxxie bit his lip. "I can accept that."

"Good." Shane smiled, leaning in to kiss Maxxie again. "It's a good thing that we both like late nights."

"Yeah," Maxxie nodded. "It is." He pulled Shane back into the kiss, frowning slightly as he did so. He had come out of the closet years ago and it had been difficult – he had felt so free once he had come out, and he liked Shane, but he wasn't sure whether going back in the closet was worth it…especially for someone like Shane, someone who could easily break his heart at any second.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, Maxxie." Shane popped his head into Maxxie's classroom a couple of days later just as Maxxie's last class of the day was filing out. "There's something I need from the storage shelter and it's a little too heavy for me to move on my own. Give me a hand?"

"Sure," Maxxie nodded. "Just let me swap out tap for trainers." He gestured towards his shoes.

"Ok." Shane waited while Maxxie switched out his tap shoes for his green converse.

"Ready!" Maxxie stood up, shutting the lights off and locking the door to the classroom before following Shane outside towards the storage shed. The second the door shut Shane pushed Maxxie up against the wall, kissing him fiercely. Maxxie returned the kiss with just as much ferocity, gripping Shane's hips as he did so.

"Do you really think we're fooling anyone?" Shane asked a few minutes later as he pulled away to take a few much needed breaths.

"Do you really think I care?" Maxxie asked, smiling as he flipped their positions so that Shane's back was pressed against the wall. He ran his finger through Shane's thick hair before pulling him into a deep, aggressive kiss. Maxxie smiled into the kiss, running his hand up Shane's shirt, feeling the slight tone in Shane's muscles as he did so. Shane wasn't as defined as Maxxie was, but Shane wasn't a dancer either, and Maxxie wasn't about to complain. Maxxie put his free hand on the wall just up above Shane's shoulder, trapping the boy in a willful prison against the wall. Shane left his hands hooked through the belt loops of Maxxie's baggy jeans, intensifying the kiss.

"How long do we have before someone starts to wonder where the hell we are?" Shane asked, biting down gently on Maxxie's earlobe as he finished his question.

"I don't know," Maxxie shrugged. "Maybe a few more minutes? I guess we don't really want one of the kids from class telling someone we're in the storage shed and risk getting walked in on, so maybe we should play it safe – call it good in a couple minutes?"

"I guess so," Shane whispered. "Make it count."

"I will." Maxxie put his lips to Shane's neck, kissing his throat slowly while massaging the pop star's chest with his right hand. Shane leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes and letting out a soft moan as Maxxie's lips caressed his skin. He released Maxxie's belt loops, moving his fingers to run through Maxxie's hair.

"This is good," Shane whispered. "So, so fucking good!"

"I know," Maxxie smiled, pulling away and removing his hand from beneath Shane's shirt. "Here." He reached out, fixing Shane's hair so that it looked less messed with. "Smooth your shirt out too, sorry if I wrinkled it."

"It doesn't matter," Shane shrugged, following Maxxie's advice while Maxxie brushed the wrinkles out of his own shirt and smoothed his hair back down so that it was close to the way that it had been before their little storage shed session. "How do I look?"

"Like a pop star who was NOT just making out with a dancer in the shed," Maxxie smiled, kissing Shane on the cheek. "What about me?"

"Like a sexy dancer who's been working all day and still has time for his boy," Shane replied as he looked around the shed.

"What are we getting ourselves into?" Maxxie asked, sighing as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"No idea," Shane shrugged "But from where I'm standing, it's something great, something real, and that's all that I really care about. Let's just see where this takes us, Maxxie, we don't have to now already where all of this stuff is going to lead."

"I guess you're right," Maxxie smiled, placing another quick, soft kiss to Shane's lips. "But for now, we have to find something to pretend to be getting." His eyes darted around the cabin as well. "How about that?"

"What's in there?" Shane asked, walking over to the box that Maxxie gestured towards.

"Absolutely no idea," Maxxie shrugged. "Let's open it and find out." He dropped to his knees, preparing to open the box."

"WAIT!" Shane shook his head. "That could have anything in it – like, I dunno, rats or something."

"You're afraid of the potential of a few rats?" Maxxie asked, his voice taunting. "Come on, Shane – if it's rats, I'll protect you."

"Fine." Shane moved back so that he was standing behind Maxxie a few feet, bracing himself as Maxxie began to open the box.

"You see?" Maxxie laughed, pulling the top flaps of the box open. "It's a shit ton of disassembled music stands, you wuss."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Shane pouted slightly as he bent over, looking into the box.

"No idea, but you didn't have to be all 'oh my god! RATS!' and panic and shit." Maxxie laughed, closing the box back up. "Come on, this'll do – you could always use more music stands in that room of yours."

"This is true." Shane nodded, picking up one side of the truly heavy box while Maxxie took the other. The two boys slowly, but surely, dragged the box back towards the classroom that Shane taught from, making a few jokes along the way. "Well, unlike you, I'm not quite done for the day." Shane sighed. "Got one more class of kids who want to know how to make their ranges larger so that they can have a higher likelihood off getting signed. I'll see you at dinner?"

"Of course," Maxxie nodded, offering Shane a wink and a smile as he headed back to his classroom to get the rest of his things, a spring in his step – after all, he was happy with Shane, even if they were keeping things a secret for the time being.

"Hey." Maxxie stopped short as he heard a voice. He turned around, shocked to see someone leaning against the wall of his classroom, opposite from where he was packing up his bag. "I was told that this was the place that I could find you, most likely…some kid said that you'd stepped out to help someone get something, but that you'd probably be back soon."

"I…" Maxxie gulped, his heart pounding with confusion and nerves. "What are you doing here?"

"I just – I needed to talk to you, things didn't feel right without you."

"Then I'd guess we had better talk, James." Maxxie sighed, sliding down the wall into a sitting position, not sure at all if he was ready to have the conversation that would follow.


	13. Chapter 13

"I miss you, Max…" James bit his lip, scooting over to sit beside Maxxie, his back pressed against the wall.

"James…" Maxxie bit his lip. "What are you doing here?"

"Chasing after you – I really do miss you, Maxxie. I don't want us to be over and done with because we got into a couple of arguments!" James reached out, putting his hand on Maxxie's shoulder. "We were in love, Maxxie, and I'm pretty sure that I still am; that's nothing to coast over and just…just ignore!"

"James, look." Maxxie took James' hand, removing it from his shoulder and letting go of it. "Our heat died out; we broke up because we were both tired of trying to make a passionless relationship work."

"Maybe we were just in a rut, Max. You were trying out and striking out, I was struggling to keep my job; we were both working too hard at our careers to make enough time to save our relationship. I think that it's worth trying to save, Maxxie – that's why I quit my job and used the last of my money to come here and find you because…because I love you, Maxxie." James looked at Maxxie, his eyes almost begging Maxxie for the response that he desired. "We could love each other, Maxxie."

"No." Maxxie jumped up. James' words striking a harmful chord. He had heard those words before, said to him by the girl who had stalked him. His mind moved to an irrational place and he began to loose control over his thoughts. "James, I'm not going through this again, ok? It was painful enough the first time." He began to back away, moving towards the door of the classroom, a scared look in his eyes.

"Going through what?" James asked, confused as he stood slowly, moving towards Maxxie.

"I thought you were different," Maxxie whispered before turning the doorknob and bolting from the classroom. He ran into the woods as fast as he could, not stopping until he was sure that he was as alone as he could possible be. His escape stopped at an open, nearly flat clearing, and without hesitation, he fell to the ground, kicking his legs upwards and flipping his body back into a standing position. He began to dance, letting loose against the forest. The trees around the clearing were nothing but a prop to him – something to play off of as he exerted as much energy as he had left to release his feelings in the purest, most honest way that he knew how. After almost an hour of twisting, turning, flipping and dancing, he felt all of his remaining energy drain from his body. He collapsed to the ground in the center of the clearing, too tired to even think about heading back to the camp. He let his thoughts, feelings and confusing swirl around him as he fell asleep, not caring that he was alone in a cold forest.

--

"Hey," Shane walked over to Jason and Nate at dinner, sitting down across from him. "Have either of you guys seen Maxxie? He said that he'd be here, but I haven't seen him and I've been looking around, haven't seen him you."

"I haven't either." Nate shook his head. "Sorry."

"Someone was looking for him earlier," Jason stated. "Some kid – British accent, brown hair, kinda cute."

"Jason!" Nate frowned.

"Sorry, not cute." Jason shook his head. "But yeah, said his name was James."

"James?" Shane stopped still. "His name is James, he's British and he's looking for Maxxie?"

"Yeah…" Jason nodded. "Why?"

"That's Maxxie's ex. Do you know where I might be able to find him?"

"Wait, are you looking for James or Maxxie?" Jason asked, frowning in confusion.

"Either, both, I don't know! You already said that you don't know where Maxxie is, so I guess that I would currently be looking for James."

"I told him that I hadn't seen Maxxie, but I mentioned that Maxxie would probably go back to the cabin at some point, so I pointed him in the direction of the cabin and told him I'd send Maxxie there if I saw him."

"Great. Thanks." Shane turned, leaving the dining hall quickly. He ran down to the cabin, stopping a few feet away so that he wouldn't seem out of breath by the time he got there.

"Maxxie?" James stood up as he heard the cabin door open.

"No, Shane." Shane shook his head, entering the bedroom area where James had been sitting down. "I'm a friend of Maxxie's. You?"

"I'm James," James sat back down. "I'm his ex boyfriend."

"Yeah, he told me about you." Shane nodded, sitting down on his own bed, across from James. "He said that you guys broke up because the tango wasn't working anymore."

"Yeah," James sighed. "But I'm not so sure that he's right, I mean…I'm here, aren't I? That must mean that we still have some spark, right?"

"I…I don't know." Shane bit his lip, wondering where this was going.  
"I mean I'm still in love with him, I was even when we broke up, but he wasn't getting work, I was having to work twice as hard just to keep hold onto mine, we weren't communicating well and so when he suggested that maybe we stop trying to so hard to make this work and go our separate ways, I agree because I thought that he was right, but now…I don't know." James sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I mean I came all the way here to see him because I love him and I told him that and he ran off like I'd abused him."

"Oh." Shane sighed. "It seems like you really love him."

"I do!" James nodded. "I just don't know if he still loves me and I don't know if I can deal with this."

"Maxxie's a great guy." Shane bit his lip. He had no idea what _he _was supposed to do. He was pretty sure that Maxxie was really through with James, at least the way Maxxie had kissed him had made it seem that way, but James seemed in love, love was big. Shane, the way that he had been before Mitchie, would have told James a lie big enough to get rid of him and keep Maxxie for himself, but he had learned from Mitchie, and he knew that this wasn't the way to handle it.

"Yeah, he is." James nodded. "I mean he's managed to get a good, solid job at this camp, hasn't he? I mean he's living in a cabin with three pop stars, if that's not connection, I don't know what is. He could be making his future at this place and here I am, sitting on his bed wondering if he'll ever take me back."

"What if…what if the heat really is gone?" Shane asked, biting his lip. "I mean I was in a relationship that I just got out of for the same reason – the spark was completely gone. I mean it took me a long time to figure it out, and I had the help of someone else, but…"

"It can't be dead," James shook his head. "I don't want to believe that it is."

"What if it is for me?" Shane asked. "What if he's moved on?"

"Has he?" James asked.

"I don't know…" Shane sighed. "Maybe…sort of a little, can you keep a secret?"

"Just tell me if Maxxie's moved on, please." James looked at Shane, a pleading look on his face.

"He's…he's with me." Shane let out a deep breath, falling back onto his bed. "I'm sorry, James."

"Oh." James stood up, grabbing his shoulder bag. "Well I guess…I'll go see if I can find him, let him know that I'm…I dunno." James turned, leaving the cabin, slamming the door behind him. Guilt filled Shane's body as he lay there. James loved Maxxie, Shane liked Maxxie and Maxxie was missing. There were many ways that this could turn out, and most of them were not good.


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

Maxxie woke up several hours later, the cold surrounding him and pulling him from his sleep. He stood up and let out a deep sigh. As much as he liked to be on his own right now, he knew that he had to go back – he was with Shane secretly, James wanted him back and he had no idea where he stood. He began walking back towards the camp, dragging his feet to elongate the process, though having run for quite awhile to get where he had been, it was already a fairly long walk. By the time he got back to camp, lights were out right and left and he decided that maybe he should get some sleep and try to find James the next day.

"Where the HELL have you been?" Shane stood up, confronting Maxxie the second that he got back. "It's two in the morning! Nate and Jason are out looking for you along with half of the camp!"

"Shit." Maxxie sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I didn't mean to-"

"Scare the shit out of everyone? Maxxie, we thought that something had happened to you! These are the woods, they're not entirely safe."

"I'm sorry!" Maxxie fell down onto his bed. "It's been a long day."

"What did James say to you that made you think it was ok for you to run off into the woods all by yourself until two in the fucking morning?"

"So you met James?" Maxxie asked.

"Yeah, met him, talked to him a bit…told him about us and felt ridiculously guilty about it!" Shane frowned. "What did he say to you, Maxxie?"

"He said that he was still in love with me," Maxxie replied quietly. "That he wants me back, that he thinks that we can salvage what we had and bring our relationship back to where it was when we started."

"And do you think that you can?" Shane asked.

"Honestly?" Maxxie replied, rolling over on his side to look at Shane. "I'm not sure either way."

"Do you want to try it?" Shane questioned.

"Fuck if I know." Maxxie shook his head. "I mean on one hand, he's right, we really were in love and that isn't something to ignore, but on the other hand, I just get the feeling that he's not the person that I'm supposed to end up with – I mean yeah, I loved him, I might still love him, I'm not sure, but even if I do, who the fuck wants happily ever after at nineteen?"

"I'm not sure." Shane shrugged his shoulders. "I mean for a lot of people there is no happily ever after…ever, so you might as well give it a shot at nineteen, but you seem like you've got somewhere that you want to go. You've just started living your dream, if you go back to Europe with him, that could be over, that's one hand, but if he happens to be the one that you're meant to be with and you don't go with him then you're losing something else."

"That's really helpful, thanks Shane." Maxxie's words were sarcastic. "I'm with you right now."

"You are," Shane nodded. "That's true, but if you want to be with him, I mean Maxxie, I'm not going to stop you trying to be happy! I've been a jackass enough of my life and I'm done. If you love James then you should go talk to him, tell him how you feel, listen to how he feels and make a decision based off of that."

"And what if I don't want James?" Maxxie asked. "What if I don't know what I want?"

"Then you're in the same boat as 99.9% of people your age." Shane replied. "If you knew what to do, you would have done it."

"That's true," Maxxie nodded. "I think…I think that I need to go and find James."

"That's probably not the worst idea that you've ever had," Shane nodded. "But I think that maybe you should wait a few minutes, you know, cool down a little, think about what you're going to say to James when you find him – think about what you want to say to James, you know, how you feel…"

"You're probably right," Maxxie sighed. "Shane, I fucked up."

"What do you mean?" Shane frowned.

"I don't know, I mean maybe I left too soon, maybe I just assumed that he wanted the breakup as much as I did. I've come here, I've started things with you, he's back and now I don't even know what I want. I could end up hurting so many people in this, you, Mitchie, James…and myself."

"That doesn't mean you've fucked up, Maxxie." Shane shook his head. "It just means that things aren't perfect – they never are. You'll figure it out, and when you do, everyone that cares about you will still care about you."

"Not if I fuck this all up," Maxxie shook his head. "I could lose a lot."

"You could," Shane admitted. "But life isn't mapped out to go just one way – there are a thousand directions that we could turn, hundreds of decisions that we make every day that make things the way that they are. This isn't easy, and any road that you take will lead somewhere else. That doesn't mean that when you wake up, no one will still be on your side."

"Yeah…" Maxxie sat up slowly. "Look, I'm going to go find James, you call off the search party, make sure that everyone gets a little sleep, ok?"

"Ok." Shane nodded, grabbing his phone to call Jason. "Good luck, Maxxie."

"Thanks." Maxxie ducked out of the cabin, walking around the camp, looking for James. He saw the boy sitting on the dock by the lake, a place that he was more than familiar with himself. He sat down, letting out a deep sigh as he looked at James.

"So you're not lost in the woods after all," James said quietly.

"No," Maxxie shook his head. "I'm not, but James, we need to talk."

"That doesn't sound good." James looked down, his eyes on the dark water and not on the blond sitting next to him.

"That's because I'm not sure that it is." Maxxie took a deep breath. "James, I'm not in love with you anymore."

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_**A/N I got a twitter, hit me up if you're interested! Username is EmilyAnn24601.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N Sorry that I didn't update last week, I had finals, packing and flying home. I got in last night and I'm still exhausted!**_

_**-Havah

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**_

"Wh-what?" James turned to look at Maxxie, his brown eyes full of hurt.

"James, I'm so, so sorry. I'm just…the head doesn't leave a relationship for no reason. I never wanted to fall out of love with you, James – you were the first boyfriend that I ever managed to fall in love wit, but it happened and I'm sorry, really, I am. Look, it was really sweet of you to come here and I really wish that I could take your hand and kiss you and mean it, but…I can't." Maxxie hung his head. "I'm so sorry, James."

"You can't help it," James said quietly. "If you don't love me then you don't love me – but don't lie to me, ok? Do you love him?"

"Love who?" Maxxie frowned.

"The popstar, the one you're with right now."

"Shane? What? No! I just met him, I don't love him. James, you're still the first and only boy that I've ever loved. You'll always have that place in my heart."

"I didn't want to be the first," James sighed. "I wanted to be the last, but I guess I'll just have to take what I can get."

"I'm sorry," Maxxie said again, not sure of what else to say.

"Look, stop saying that. The fact that you're sorry doesn't make this any easier, I just have to know…do you really think that Shane won't leave you behind once his summer fling is done?"

"I'm not telling you that I don't want to be with you just so that I can be with Shane, I'm telling you that I'm not in love with you because it's true, ok? James, I've said it a hundred times already, I'm sorry! I just…I don't know what else to do."

"How about you answer my question." James spoke calmly this time, his arms folded across his chest as he looked Maxxie directly in the eye.

"What question?" Maxxie asked, frowning as he looked at James, attempting to read the young man's expression.

"Do you really, truly believe that Shane won't leave you at the end of the summer, you know, once he's had his fun? His big gay experience?"

"What are you saying?" Maxxie asked. "You're saying that Shane isn't interested, that I'm just a passing fad?"

"I'm saying that he is a pop star," James countered. "By rule, they're normally, well, a load of tossers, and here you are shagging one of them."

"I'm not shagging him," Maxxie corrected.

"You're not shagging him _yet_, I know you, Maxxie – it didn't take the two of us long to get around to it, and if you think that Shane will be any different, you're wrong. I'm not saying any of this because I think that it will win you back for me, I'm saying it because I care about you, Maxxie, and I don't want to see you get your heart ripped out by a self centered, arrogant, teen idol celebrity."

"That's nice of you," Maxxie said, though his tone of voice was terse, displaying no sense of gratitude whatsoever. "But James, what I do with Shane is my decision, and if he hurts me then he hurts me and it's all just part of life, isn't it?"

"It shouldn't have to be!" James argued. "You shouldn't have to put yourself in jeopardy, you shouldn't put yourself in the position to be hurt like that. I mean you know what he's like, he let his relationship with the girl fizzle out, that could happen with you! He's a star, Shane, he's constantly used to the spotlight, and when you start to dim out, he'll be on to the next person just like he was before." James looked down sadly, genuinely not wanting Maxxie to get hurt. "And I don't want that to happen to you because you don't deserve that."

"Thank you, James." This time, Maxxie's tone was sincere and he looked up at his ex. "But I think that I can watch my own back." He smiled kindly. "And if it doesn't work out, then there are other fish in the sea, James, just like there are for you."

"Yeah, maybe," James shrugged halfheartedly, clearly unconvinced by what Maxxie was saying. "And maybe I blew the once shot I had at love."

"That's not true, that's never true." Maxxie shook his head, disagreeing with James' declaration. "James, there is never just ONE person for someone, there are many. Whoever said that there is one perfect person out there for everyone was fucking crazy, ok? I have it on good authority that there are at least five, and more for you, probably, because you're cute and passionate."

"You think so?" James asked, biting his lip as he looked up at Maxxie.

"Nah," Maxxie shook his head. "I know it, yeah? You're young, James, go back to London, meet a nice boy, adopt lots of children and have a happy life, I'm staying here and trying my chances. Maybe I'll get shut down and get hurt, maybe I'll make a name for myself and end up happy, either way, I try to live my dream and you try to live yours."

"Yeah…" James sighed. "Ok, I guess if that's the way it has to be then that's the way that it's going to be."

"We can go our separate ways in the morning," Maxxie said, pulling himself to his feet. "For now, let's just get some sleep, ok? It's been a long day for everyone – you can crash on the floor of our cabin. I would let you share the bed, but…I think that maybe we're a little bit past the point of that being a good idea." He offered his hand to James, helping the young man up.

"Ok," James nodded. "Maxxie…I'm sorry for getting in the way, ok? I didn't mean to make things so difficult I just thought you were worth trying to get back." James didn't look at Maxxie as he said this, but started walking back to the cabin.

"Hey, James." At the head of the cabin, Maxxie stopped, reaching for James's hand.

"Yeah?"

"Everything that you said at the dock, thank you."

"You're welcome." James nodded politely before the entered the cabin. Maxxie got into bed after giving James a spare blanket, and they both fell asleep. The next morning when Maxxie woke up and looked around the room, James was already gone, but the question that he had asked Maxxie remained, and the young dancer found himself unable to shake it.


	16. Chapter 16

"Where's James?" Shane asked the next morning at breakfast, leaning over a little closer to Maxxie under the guise of reaching for the salt.

"He's gone." Maxxie bit his lip as he poked at his eggs with his fork. "We talked and we got things sorted out – he's going back to London to find someone who is a little better suited for him than I am. I think he understands…at least he seemed like he did."

"Are you ok?" Shane asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You look tired."

"I took a nap in the woods, my back is sore." Maxxie let out a soft sigh. "In the world of stupid ideas, that has to be a big one, sleeping in the woods? God…what was I thinking?" He let out a laugh, mostly to hide the stress that he was really feeling.

"Yeah, I can't imagine that would have been too comfortable," Shane shrugged. "So…meet me in the supply shed after your last class?" he asked casually, not even looking at Maxxie as he spoke, attempting to be as discreet about it as possible.

"Yeah, ok." Maxxie nodded, finally putting a forkful of egg into his mouth, chewing it slowly, and then swallowing it with some difficulty, as the eggs had gone cold and didn't taste particularly delightful anymore. "I just hope I can get through my classes – I think I'm gonna be sore for the next ten years the way I'm feeling right now."

"Maybe I'll just have to give you a nice massage once we reach that shed," Shane smiled, returning Maxxie's joke with one of his own.

"Maybe," Maxxie shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"I'll bet that you could get one of the girls in one of your classes to give you a back rub, they all seem pretty sweet on you, don't think I haven't noticed." Shane tossed a grape at Maxxie. "The way they swoon when they get out of your class; if I didn't know any better I'd think that you were keeping George Clooney hostage inside that dance studio."

"Damn it!" Maxxie exclaimed. "You've discovered by ultimate master plan! What will I do now?" He let out a long, over dramatic sigh.

"Cut me in for half and I won't tell anyone at all that you've stolen George Clooney and are hiding him away from the world," Shane said, a smile in place on his lips. "Wait, that's assuming that you're holding him for ransom, if you're not and there's no money involved I will DEFINITELY be going to the police and ratting you out for the reward cash."

"That's mature." Maxxie laughed, though on the inside, he couldn't help but feel a sting from the words. He knew that Shane was joking, but the idea that Shane would sell Maxxie out for money was a presently recurring theme in his life, and he wanted to be rid of any doubts he harbored concerning the young man. He liked Shane, but there was a chance that James was right, and it was possible that the chance was higher than Maxxie had initially anticipated.

"Earth to Maxxie!" Shane snapped his fingers in front of Maxxie's face and Maxxie whipped around to face him.

"Huh?"

"You zoned out, did you even hear a word that I said?" Shane rolled his eyes.

"No, sorry…I was thinking about something and yeah…what were you saying?" Maxxie bit his lip, hoping that Shane wouldn't ask what he had been thinking about. He knew that it was too early in their relationship to confront Shane with doubts and bringing them up unnecessarily would only cause trouble that their relationship was too young to fight off.

"I was just saying that if we got Clooney AND Pitt we could double the ransom money because, let's be honest, that's two of America's most sought after faces…we'd make a killing."

"Do you think we could handle both of them?" Maxxie asked, re-immersing himself in the conversation of kidnapping celebrities for money. The rest of breakfast spent hatching an over elaborate, hyperbolic plan and was surrounded with many laughs and some more aerodynamic grapes. When it was time, the boys split up to teach their separate classes.

"Maxxie, can you show me that flip thing again?" One of the advanced dancing students came to Maxxie almost the second class began, questioning a move that Maxxie had shown him yesterday.

"Oh…" Maxxie bit his lip. "I actually, ah, sure, why not?" He shrugged, moving to a part of the room that was a little more cleared out. He stretched for a few seconds, making sure that his back was as loose as possible before performing the move. He took a deep breath, counted himself off, and flipped forwards after a short run. "That all?" he asked, looking at the student.

"Yeah, I think so." The boy nodded before going back to join his rehearsal group. Maxxie turned his torso, stretching his back out and watching the clock. He normally didn't mind the teaching – he got to share something that he loved with people who were just as eager to learn it as he was to show them, but today all he wanted was to be done. He was tired, sore, and more than a little confused by all of the different ways his relationship could end, few of them good. There was no doubt that James had put questions and hesitant concerns in Maxxie's mind with his statements, and as much as Maxxie wanted to be angry at James for whipping out the red tape, he knew that James had just been looking after him. James had never tried to hurt him and he wouldn't now, of that Maxxie was sure. What he wasn't sure of was whether or not Shane would.

By the time classes were done, Maxxie had accomplished little by way of hashing out his thoughts. He had managed to procure a back rub from one of the girls in his beginner class, as Shane had suggested, so he was less sore physically, but his head hurt from trying to think things through. Even if he confronted Shane about the potential heartbreak, Shane could lie to him and, if his intentions were the way that Maxxie feared, he _would _lie. As he leaned up against the shed, waiting for Shane, he decided that the only thing that he could do was play it by ear and try as hard as he could not to get too involved in the game before he knew the rules.


End file.
